Raja Rao’s Kanthapura (1938) celebrates the fearless spirit of the fictional village
named Kanthapura, where the Gandhian non-violent struggle for independence becomes an integral part of the community life. In its comprehensive depiction of the village through an elderly Brahmin woman’s delightful oral narrative, the novel evokes the ethos of traditional India which is replete with caste divisions, religious ceremonies, superstitions and age old traditions. Impregnated with Gandhian nationalism, the villagers sacrifice all their material possessions in a triumph of the spirit, showing how Gandhism propelled people to let go of narrow prejudices and unite in the common cause of the non-violent civil resistance against the British Raj.